Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:15 pm EDT
Snap judgments on Saturday's best.
Teachers' Pet: Jahvid Best. Last week's dark horse contender for assorted college football trophies put up a hell of a statement game yesterday, and did it on national television in an early-morning slot that ensured maximum visibility. Five touchdowns later, everybody knows his name, even if half the folks on television can't seem to pronounce it.
Most Likely To Succeed: Steve Sarkisian. The noted Pete Carroll prodigy interited a truly wretched Husky squad riding a losing streak for the ages and made magic in the span of mere months. He took LSU to the wire, blew out Idaho, and for his latest trick, upset his universally beloved mentor 16-13. Whatever Ty Willingham was doing in Seattle all that time, developing players wasn't it.
Most Unlikely Couple: Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer, meeting at midfield for a perfectly cordial handshake following a defensive slugfest between their respective squads. Meyer even hung around to congratulate several Tennessee players on a well-fought contest, and Kiffin had nothing but praise for Tim Tebow in postgame interviews. Drama-mongering television networks had best get to stepping if they want to manufacture a new feud in time for next week.
Most Creative: Boston College and their bottomless bag of tricks employed to plumb the depths of offensive ineptitude. Quoting again because we still can't quite believe it ourselves: "The Eagles were good for 49 total yards, four first downs, 10 punts, 12 three-and-outs or worse, one yard per play and four turnovers." That took some sincerely devoted scraping of the bottoms of many barrels. All in the name of art, right?
Class Clown: Purdue, pulling one fast one after another this season while keeping a bemused audience laughing at them, not with them. A decisive opening victory over the allegedly all right Toledo outfit, a close loss to the still-possibly-wretched Oregon the weekend after, and now a touchdown defeat to Northern Illinois. You watch, they'll misdirect us with a squirting boutonniere next week and beat Notre Dame, then lose to Northwestern.
Most School Spirit: Landry Jones, filling in again for Sam Bradford. No spitballs and "KICK ME" signs for this substiute -- Jones threw for six touchdowns en route to a 45-0 shutout of Tulsa. Bradford is slated to return for Sooners' road date with Miami, but if the shoulder's not there, the backup looks much more than capable.
Grape Job! Ever have one of those sunshiney teachers who insists on rewarding even the slightest effort of the most disinterested student? We're all about inclusiveness today, so come on down, Washington State. With rival Washington clambering out of the Pac-10 cellar, it's time to celebrate the smallest of victories, like beating Southern Methodist in overtime.
Mr. Personality: Georgia, not at all pretty but taking care of business and being wildly entertaining in the process. Last night's Arkansas tilt was a mint-condition 1990s Pac-10 shootout. Holding the Razorbacks to under 500 yards of offense likely isn't what Dawg fans thought they'd be celebrating Sunday morning, but thanks to hanging 52 points on Petrino & Co., it didn't much matter. (We're all left wondering, however, if Ryan Mallett wasn't run out of the Big Ten in the name of parity. That arm is just unfair.) The methods are questionable, and maybe untenable, but the results speak for themselves, and for the moment, Georgia's sitting pretty atop the SEC standings, the only 2-0 team in the bunch.
Most Popular: Al Groh. Not in Virginia, mind, but opposing teams needing their days brightened have only to schedule the Cavaliers, and all will be well. This week's beneficiary? The Doc's own Southern Miss, staging a 4th-quarter comeback and coming away with a nice little home win, 37-34.
Drama Queen: Oregon, we never know where we stand with you. You're hot, you're cold. You're making a delicious mockery out of the pregame handshake and losing a blue-chip player one week, then you're putting paid to the longest winning streak in the league. Still, every conference needs its token random event generator, a team against whom anything can and will happen, so thanks for keeping things interesting out west. (Just open any mail you may receive from Orrin Hatch's office with extreme caution.)
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Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc.
Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.

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